Microsoft's Windows Vista will run on just about any PC available today, but it will only show its true colors on about half of them, according to a new report from Gartner. While Microsoft is currently suggesting a minimum of 512MB, the new OS will require at least 1GB of dual-channel memory to provide its full capabilities, Gartner said in the report. However, all recent discrete solutions from major graphics makers such as ATI and Nvidia, for both desktops and notebooks, are expected to be able to support Aero, Gartner said in the report. My take: After toying with Vista myself, it becomes quite clear what you need to run Aero glass: 512 MB of fast RAM, and a DirectX9 compatible videocard with 128MB RAM. I also found that even non-DirectX9 videocards can run Aero Glass comfortably.

I'm not using Windows, and I'm not intending to, but I'll play with it when it will be released. I can only hope the new release will be worthwhile for the Windows users and maybe, just maybe, it will decrase number of calls from friends and family.

UI eyecandy. It's here to stay, you like it or not. Req. are high but what can you do? Most nowdays games also loves both RAM and GPU power, so I can assume that most people who game are all set for Vista.

RAM. Well, 1Gb sounds OK for a system with applications. I have an old laptop with 256Mb (Breezy) and a desktop computer with 768Mb (Dapper). After day of development on the desktop machine I still have memory free: